OBJECTIVE: Homografts are a well established option for reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) in patients with congenital heart disease. The availability of small size homografts is limited, especially for newborns and infants.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Since 1994 we have performed a size reduction of large homografts through a bicuspidalization. Durability and echocardiographic performance of 53 patients with a bicuspidalized homograft and 46 patients with a small size homograft were compared.
RESULTS: Both groups were comparable regarding age (mean 18.4 months) and weight (mean 8.8kg). The mean size reduction of the bicuspidalized homografts was 66.2% ± 4.5%, resulting in a mean size of 14.4mm, as opposed to 15.4mm for small size homografts. From the 88 survivors, 21 (24%) needed a homograft exchange at a mean time of 4.7 ± 3 years. Freedom from homograft replacement for bicuspidalized homografts was 94.8 ± 3.6%, 91.3 ± 4.9%, 43.6 ± 16.9% at 1, 5 and 10 years respectively, compared to 95.6 ± 3%, 86.8 ± 5.6% and 40.2 ± 14.1% for small size homografts (p=0,7). At a mean follow-up time of 5.4 ± 3.1 years, the mean gradient over the RVOT was 30.4mmHg for bicuspidalized homografts compared to 29.5mmHg for small size homografts (p=0.9).
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OBJECTIVE: Homografts are a well established option for reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) in patients with congenital heart disease. The availability of small size homografts is limited, especially for newborns and infants.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Since 1994 we have performed a size reduction of large homografts through a bicuspidalization. Durability and echocardiographic performance of 53 patients with a bicuspidalized homograft and 46 patients with a small size ho...
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